Independent contractors or freelancers are self-employed individuals who provide services to companies as a non-employee. This is one of the most common ways companies tend to hire non-local designers, engineers, support reps, etc.
For legal and tax purposes, independent contractors are not classified as employees. They may work for multiple clients, set their own work hours, negotiate their pay rate, and decide how a job gets done.
For example, the IRS says that if an independent contractor or freelancer does work that can be controlled (what will be done and how it will be done) by an employer then they are, in fact, classified as an employee.
As you can imagine, hiring someone as an independent contractor versus an employee is a fine line to tread.
While there are benefits when you choose the contractor route, there are quite a few drawbacks to consider and you’ll need to weigh them carefully to determine the best fit for your company.
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A foreign subsidiary is a company that operates overseas as part of a larger company who’s HQ is in another country.
Establishing a foreign entity is great for having an international presence and accessing new markets. Though, setting up a subsidiary in Greece can be expensive, stressful, and time-consuming. It's not for the faint of heart.
To set up a subsidiary in Greece, you have to:
If you're lucky, this process can take months. If you're not so lucky, it can take up to a year. And on average, it costs about $50k-$80k, all-in-all, to get setup. And that's just for Greece.
An employer-of-record (EOR) is a company that hires and pays an employee on behalf of another company.
An EOR is typically used to overcome the financial and regulatory hurdles that often come with employing remote workers.
Each country has its own payroll, employment, and work permit requirements for non-resident companies doing business in their jurisdiction. Meeting those demands can be a huge obstacle when it comes to hiring remotely.
At Panther, we help companies employ and pay people in over 160 countries, without having to set up a foreign subsidiary. Payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and more are all handled by us, at a fraction of the cost.
Outside of saving you months and tens of thousands of dollars, other advantages of using Panther are:
Because you no longer have to set up your own subsidiary, you’ll save a ton of time and tens of thousands of dollars using Panther.
Paying employees in Greece is not the same as paying workers in your own country. Employees have to be paid using Greece’s employment and payroll standards.
This means that you have to know, understand, and keep up with 1) fluctuating currency changes, and 2) local payroll and tax laws in the countries you’re looking to hire in.
Outside of the laws and regulations around payroll, there may be different conditions surrounding leave, overtime, termination, and more. As you can imagine, maintaining this kind of regulatory knowledge can be challenging. But it is crucial and necessary to follow local legislation.
After, you’ll have to determine the best way to pay your international employees. This can be done in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
One of the most challenging (and expensive) parts of paying international employees is setting up the infrastructure to do so.
Before you start to run payroll, you have to register your company as the local employer in the country the worker resides in. As you can see in the “Set up a subsidiary” section, this is a multi-step process that can take up to a year and put you on your way to bankruptcy.
Outside of EORs acting as the full admin employer, many also provide remote payroll.
For example, at Panther, in just 1-click, you’re able to pay your entire global team, anywhere in the world. We send you an invoice each month, charge you in US Dollars, and pay your employees the same amount in their local currency.
We factor in currency fluctuations and use the mid-market rate plus any applicable fee passed on by our provider at cost at the time of billing.
Full Time employment is considered 40 hours weekly, and 8 hours daily.
Extra Time (Iperergasia): The maximum time per day is 1 hour and is paid at a rate of 120% of the regular salary.
Overtime (Iperoria): The maximum time per day is 2 hours and 120 hours per year. These hours are paid at a rate of 140% of the regular salary. For more than 120 hours per year, approval from the Greek Labor of Ministry is required.
Monthly, usually by the end of the month.
Employees are entitled to 13th and 14th salaries.
In Greece, there are mandatory 13th and 14th salaries which includes Easter (half a month’s salary), vacation bonus (half month’s salary) and Christmas (a full month’s salary).
7 public holidays and 4 optional holidays.
In case of sick leaves, the employer is obliged to pay the employee: 13 days only in the 1st year and 25 days from the 2nd year onwards. The days are paid by both the employer and the EFKA.
Maternity leave – 119 calendar days. (Only the 1st month is paid by the employer the rest is paid by the EFKA). 56 calendar days should be taken before the childbirth date and the remaining 63 calendar days after the birth.
In addition to the maternity leave, 6-month leave is paid the minimum wage by the labor Employment Office (OAED).
Instead of receiving reduced daily working hours mothers may agree with their employers to receive an extra 3.5 months leave paid by the employer.
Fathers are permitted 2 days of paid leave after the birth of their children.
2 days per childbirth paid by the employer.
Leave for children’s school grading: 4 working days for each child who is not older than 16 years old. This kind of leave may be used by one of the parents.
Elections leave: the duration is relating to the distance between the polling station and the workplace. Generally, is 1 to 3 working days.
5 working days.
2 working days for the death of husband/wife, child, parents, brothers.
An indefinite employment agreement is considered to be employed with a probationary period for the first 12 months of the agreement, which may be terminated during the probationary period without notice and without severance pay unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
After the first 12 months, the employee cannot be terminated without prior written notice from the employer, which will take effect from the day after the employee is notified.
These provisions apply for all forms of dismissals, including collective dismissals for employees that are not workers. Terminating workers doesn’t require any notice.
A fixed-term contract can be terminated by the employee or the employer before the end date immediately without notice period for a ‘Significant reason’. Significant reason includes events during the employer-employee relation which make it impossible to continue the agreement in good faith. If a significant reason exists, the employer is not obliged to pay compensation.
Furthermore, article 40 of law 3986/2011 mentions that a fixed-term employment contract, which includes a term for early termination in accordance with requires severance calculation is automatically converted into an indefinite-term employment contract upon termination.
If the employment relationship is based on a fixed-term contract, it can be terminated immediately without notice by either the employee or employer. However, a reason (i.e. breach of contract, failure to comply with the terms of the contract, etc.) is given. If no reason is given, the employee is able to make claim in court and is able to receive compensation for the wages that would have been received until the contract expiry date.
If the employment contract is for an indefinite period, the length of the notice period depends on the length that the employee has been employed:
Number of Years: 1-2 years
Notice Period: 1 month
Number of Years: 2-5 years
Notice Period: 2 months
Number of Years: 5-10 years
Notice Period: 3 months
Number of Years: 10 years+
Notice Period: 4 months
For non-workers with indefinite employment agreement the severance pay is calculated as follows:
Up to 1 year of service – no severance pay required
From one year of service – the severance changes according to the length of service and can be up to 12 months of severance.
